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Available
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Series
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Publication
Book Club Edition, Dell Ray, Published by Ballantine Books
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. HTML:From a New York Timesâ??bestselling author: A former spy is recruited to unmask a vampire hunter in this Locus Award Winner. James Asher, a retired member of the Queen's secret service in Edwardian England, has settled into quietude as an Oxford professor of philology with his physician wife, Lydia. But his peace is shattered when he's confronted by a pale aristocratic Spaniard named Don Simon Ysidro, who makes an outlandish claim that someone is killing his fellow vampires of London, and he needs James's help to ferret the culprit out. The request also comes with a threatening ultimatum: Should James fail, both he and his wife will die. With James's talent for espionage and Lydia's scientific acumen and keen analytical mind, the couple begins an investigation that takes them from the crypts of London to the underworld circles of the unliving to the grisly depths of a charnel house in Paris. Now James and Lydia must believe in the unbelievableâ??if they're to survive another night in the shadow of Don Simon Ysidro. This first book in the James Asher series is "one of the more memorable vampire novels of recent yearsâ??smoothly written, suspenseful, awash in moral ambiguity, and rich in vampire lore . . . a must-read for vampire fans" (Kirkus Reviews). Barbara Hambly gives "Anne Rice a run for her money" (Publishers Weekly) and "Don Simon is unforgettable" (Charlaine Harris). This ebook features an illustrated biography of Hambly, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from her personal collect… (more)
Media reviews
suspense réglé au poil, décors superbement ciselés par une plume toute en finesse, personnage dont les relations sont crédibles et prenantes, et j'allais oublier, énigme “scientifique”, puisqu'il s'agit aussi de comprendre la vraie nature et origine des créatures en question. Aucune
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raison de se priver, donc, du plaisir de ce livre dont les vampires sont tels que je les conçois : des dandys immortels qui ont plus à voir avec les Danseurs de la fin des temps de Michael Moorcock qu'avec les brutes répugnantes de Newman. Show Less
Le Sang d'immortalité est à la fois un polar passionnant,(agréablement kitsch, comme il se doit quand on écrit dans un style à la Sherlock Holmes), et un roman d'horreur trés efficace : pas d'effets de Grand-Guignol, nulle trace de gore, Barbara Hambly joue sur du velours, bâtit l'angoisse
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par petites touches, sans avoir l'air d'y toucher. On avait déjà pu apprécier ses talents dans le domaine de la terreur avec la trilogie Darwath (en français au C.L.A. Opta), sorte d'alchimie entre Lovecraft et Tolkien. Cette fois on se trouve du côté de Bram Stoker et de Conan Doyle, et la réussite est encore plus éclatante ! Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member melannen
Still the absolute best vampire novel I have ever read.
And only part of it is the fact that I have a weakness for action heroes, like Dr. Asher, who in civilian life are - *ahem* - cunning linguists. Or the fact that I'm madly in love with Don Simon.
This book does a great job of balancing an
The main thing that keeps me re-reading this, though, is her vampires. She has created the vampires who *must* exist - if vampires actually existed - who are believable, who are just tragic enough and just human enough and just *utterly terrifying* enough to take the concept of a vampire right to the edge of where it can go without ever chickening out on where that's leading her - or descending to sensationalism.
And the human characters' reactions to the vampires are exactly human enough, as well; the way a human can become accustomed to *any* sort of horror, simply by being around it long enough - and the characters' own self-disgust as they find themselves coming to respect the vampire characters, despite what they are - is all just perfectly drawn without ever going too far.
The murder mystery is fun, too. But this book's really about the characters and what necessity makes of men.
And only part of it is the fact that I have a weakness for action heroes, like Dr. Asher, who in civilian life are - *ahem* - cunning linguists. Or the fact that I'm madly in love with Don Simon.
This book does a great job of balancing an
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Edwardian feel with modern storytelling methods - it's a bit more formal in diction and style and loose in pace than your average modern fantasy book, but not enough so to make it difficult for the modern reader, though it is a bit of a slow start.The main thing that keeps me re-reading this, though, is her vampires. She has created the vampires who *must* exist - if vampires actually existed - who are believable, who are just tragic enough and just human enough and just *utterly terrifying* enough to take the concept of a vampire right to the edge of where it can go without ever chickening out on where that's leading her - or descending to sensationalism.
And the human characters' reactions to the vampires are exactly human enough, as well; the way a human can become accustomed to *any* sort of horror, simply by being around it long enough - and the characters' own self-disgust as they find themselves coming to respect the vampire characters, despite what they are - is all just perfectly drawn without ever going too far.
The murder mystery is fun, too. But this book's really about the characters and what necessity makes of men.
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LibraryThing member MyriadBooks
I’m rebelling against the current vampire books. I’m tired of reading things like what Laurell K. Hamilton writes (for all that she lured me into the genre), and I’ve lately made a deliberate attempt to track down and revisit the vampire books I read when I first began reading vampire books.
Fantasy books hit me hard as a teen and young adult. Back then, I read like the words were on fire. In my haste to pick up a new book as soon as the last one ended, I’ve forgotten all sorts of the little things, things like the book title, author, and basic plot. And this has made things like tracking down Those Who Hunt the Night rather difficult.
In this case, I remembered the details of a specific scene, and nothing about anything else of the book. The scene was good. I remember an overpowering feeling of dust and age and pity, and also a claustrophobic library. Fortunately, the NoveList search program did not let me down.
Remember back when reading a vampire novel meant being scared of the dark? Of the things in the dark? Of walking out into the dark to meet those things? Has a book like that been published in the last 10 years?
James Asher knows about the dark. As a college don and former spy, he knows about a lot of things. What he doesn’t know is about to kick his ass.
Simon Ysidro knows about safety and politics. Four of his fellow vampires have burnt to ash within their coffins, and it’s no longer prudent to ignore the problem. Someone is hunting the hunters. And the vampires have no idea how to stop it.
An unwilling ally is lead easily enough with death threats. A temporary master isn’t going to give out any more information than he has too. And the newest thing lurking in the darkness is closer to home than either of them ever feared.
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And this has been hard. Do you know how many thousands of vampire books have been published in the last 20 years? Yikes. The trees are weeping.Fantasy books hit me hard as a teen and young adult. Back then, I read like the words were on fire. In my haste to pick up a new book as soon as the last one ended, I’ve forgotten all sorts of the little things, things like the book title, author, and basic plot. And this has made things like tracking down Those Who Hunt the Night rather difficult.
In this case, I remembered the details of a specific scene, and nothing about anything else of the book. The scene was good. I remember an overpowering feeling of dust and age and pity, and also a claustrophobic library. Fortunately, the NoveList search program did not let me down.
Remember back when reading a vampire novel meant being scared of the dark? Of the things in the dark? Of walking out into the dark to meet those things? Has a book like that been published in the last 10 years?
James Asher knows about the dark. As a college don and former spy, he knows about a lot of things. What he doesn’t know is about to kick his ass.
Simon Ysidro knows about safety and politics. Four of his fellow vampires have burnt to ash within their coffins, and it’s no longer prudent to ignore the problem. Someone is hunting the hunters. And the vampires have no idea how to stop it.
An unwilling ally is lead easily enough with death threats. A temporary master isn’t going to give out any more information than he has too. And the newest thing lurking in the darkness is closer to home than either of them ever feared.
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LibraryThing member Karlstar
This is one of my favorite vampire books. It brings to mind Dracula, but it has its own tone and style, and is one of the better books that features a vampire we can sympathize with. Excellent reading, though Anne Rice fans may find it tame.
LibraryThing member mossjon
3.5 stars
Vampires without the romance. Very refreshing. Well drawn historical setting in late 19th or early 20th century London and Paris.
James Asher, a professor of philology at Oxford, and his wife Lydia, also a doctor, but of medicine, are reluctantly coerced into investigating the case of a
Rather than risking his wife's precarious safety and sending her into hiding, he recruits her help in tracking down both the vampire killer, and the vampire victims haunts and hidey-holes. Lydia pursues the research through probate courts, registrar of deed office, newspaper articles and other public records and resist's the siren call of the medical pathology mystery of vampirism while James accompanies Ysidro to interrogate London's undead citizens.
All their combined efforts turn up clues that lead to a revelation and twist which I didn't see coming. I even re-read some of the early relevant scenes and could not see a clear foreshadowing of the mystery's resolution.
Like all mysteries, I kept reading and turning pages because I wanted to know who did it, who the vampire stalker was. No terror gripped me, no character cried out to me, no scene compelled me yet good pacing and interesting characters led me down a path less travelled, especially by daylight.
One of my misgivings surrounded James Asher. Even though he played the mild-mannered professor, his former life as a spy for the British Empire nagged at me. Some of the jargon of the spy trade and of his previous escapades seemed too modern and out of place for the times portrayed. Oddly, I readily accepted Lydia's pursuit of the medical profession, even in a patriarchal society.
I've read many of Hambly's novels, and know she can make me shiver with goosebumps, the cold sweat of fear and visualize some truly horrific scenes and entities. This work just didn't quite reach that far, but I enjoyed the thrills of the ride nonetheless.
Vampires without the romance. Very refreshing. Well drawn historical setting in late 19th or early 20th century London and Paris.
James Asher, a professor of philology at Oxford, and his wife Lydia, also a doctor, but of medicine, are reluctantly coerced into investigating the case of a
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serial vampire killer. Don Simon Ysidro, a Spanish vampire old enough to remember (and barely survive) the great London fire of 1666, forces James into his service by threatening Lydia's life. Rather than risking his wife's precarious safety and sending her into hiding, he recruits her help in tracking down both the vampire killer, and the vampire victims haunts and hidey-holes. Lydia pursues the research through probate courts, registrar of deed office, newspaper articles and other public records and resist's the siren call of the medical pathology mystery of vampirism while James accompanies Ysidro to interrogate London's undead citizens.
All their combined efforts turn up clues that lead to a revelation and twist which I didn't see coming. I even re-read some of the early relevant scenes and could not see a clear foreshadowing of the mystery's resolution.
Like all mysteries, I kept reading and turning pages because I wanted to know who did it, who the vampire stalker was. No terror gripped me, no character cried out to me, no scene compelled me yet good pacing and interesting characters led me down a path less travelled, especially by daylight.
One of my misgivings surrounded James Asher. Even though he played the mild-mannered professor, his former life as a spy for the British Empire nagged at me. Some of the jargon of the spy trade and of his previous escapades seemed too modern and out of place for the times portrayed. Oddly, I readily accepted Lydia's pursuit of the medical profession, even in a patriarchal society.
I've read many of Hambly's novels, and know she can make me shiver with goosebumps, the cold sweat of fear and visualize some truly horrific scenes and entities. This work just didn't quite reach that far, but I enjoyed the thrills of the ride nonetheless.
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LibraryThing member infjsarah
This was Okay. I like Barbara Hambly but am not a big fan of vampire stories. So somehow it didn't click for me and I won't pursue the series.
LibraryThing member ecolenca
REALLLY loved this book. The style is lyrical, the take on vampires is original, and everyone comes off as well rounded and authentic, even the villain, although at the end he is a bit over the top. I love Hambly's writing in this series, though I daresay some would find it too flowery. Her image
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evokes very visceral sensations, and the attention to detail, such as the vampire's antique Spanish, really stuck in mind. I've read this book three times over the past several years and it never loses its appeal. Show Less
LibraryThing member librisissimo
Substance: A British "secret agent" of the Victorian era is enlisted by a vampire, an erstwhile Spanish nobleman attendant on King Phillip in 1555, to discover who or what has been killing the other vampires of London.
Style: A fair mystery, with well-placed clues, leading to a satisfactory
Style: A fair mystery, with well-placed clues, leading to a satisfactory
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solution. Sufficient action balanced with the cerebration, matrimonial romance, and some humor. Show Less
LibraryThing member raizel
The Victorian style of writing forced me to read slowly. James Asher is a retired British spy who is now living as a mild-mannered Oxford professor with the woman he loves. She is a doctor who loves research and other unfeminine pursuits. And one of the few people of that time and place who would
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believe Asher's tale that he had been asked by a vampire to hunt down a vampire slayer. Show Less
LibraryThing member themulhern
Barbara Hambly's settings and situations are inventive (Edwardian London with vampires from various ages and an Oxford don and former spy as well as a doctor who must have been among the first few classes to receive a college degree in England) but there's something so plain about her writing and
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so predictable about the plot as to make this book impossible for me to complete. Show Less
LibraryThing member maquisleader
Boring. I didn't make it past the first chapter. There was just too much back story and explanation being stuffed into the story. I like to learn things as I go along. If there's only 2 lines of dialogue on a page and I have to go back to find out wtf the first person said so I remember the
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conversation -- too much thinking going on. Show Less
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly is a combination horror and mystery story that was originally published in 1988. Set in Edwardian England this atmospheric read harkens back to classic vampire stories like Dracula in that the vampires in this book are in-human monsters. There is a lot of
Ex-spy, now Oxford don, James Asher is approached by London’s oldest vampire and for a price, that being his life and the life of his beloved wife, he is asked to look into the recent spate of vampire murders. Someone or something is stalking and staking the vampires of London and James is expected to find this vampire hunter. When Asher starts to suspect that the killer is, in fact, a vampire, the hunt becomes all the more dangerous. This story is the first in a trilogy, but is complete in itself if the reader does not wish to make a commitment to another series.
I enjoyed this tale, found it well written, full of mystery and suspense and the vampires had the right blend of creepy sophistication that I enjoy in stories of this sort. Those Who Hunt the Night delivered intriguing characters of both the living and the undead and I will be on the lookout for the next book in this series.
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vampire lore in the story as well as a high ratio of gore, but for me, that is exactly what makes a good vampire story.Ex-spy, now Oxford don, James Asher is approached by London’s oldest vampire and for a price, that being his life and the life of his beloved wife, he is asked to look into the recent spate of vampire murders. Someone or something is stalking and staking the vampires of London and James is expected to find this vampire hunter. When Asher starts to suspect that the killer is, in fact, a vampire, the hunt becomes all the more dangerous. This story is the first in a trilogy, but is complete in itself if the reader does not wish to make a commitment to another series.
I enjoyed this tale, found it well written, full of mystery and suspense and the vampires had the right blend of creepy sophistication that I enjoy in stories of this sort. Those Who Hunt the Night delivered intriguing characters of both the living and the undead and I will be on the lookout for the next book in this series.
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LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
Oooh. Hambly is very good at characterization, and I always find myself intrigued by her characters. She seems to like taking fantasy tropes and twisting them a bit—not in an annoying, Piers Anthony way of punning and “ooh look how clever and cheeky we are, playing with these stereotypes,”
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but instead by adding a dash of realism and a spoonful of human emotion. Thus her 1900s spy gets PTSD and tries to retire to an academic life, only to be pulled back into violence by a vampiric threat to his lady love, a beautiful, wealthy and spunky woman. She also hates wearing glasses for her nearsightedness, burned many of her bridges in order to become a doctor, and doesn’t respond to the vampires threatening her life in a ladylike fashion. The plot is well-paced and exciting, and the evil is both insidious and horrifying. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, especially to people who enjoy AC Doyle or late Victorian England. Show Less
LibraryThing member ScoLgo
A well-written and somewhat atypical vampire story. The premise; what if someone is hunting and killing vampires by day and they need the help of a human agent to track down the killer? Hambly does an admirable job of developing her characters and plotting her way through this fun - occasionally
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grisly - tale. I will definitely be reading the sequel as I had a great time with this opening volume. Show Less
LibraryThing member James_Patrick_Joyce
James Asher was a Victorian secret agent, who retired to the scholarly life, until a Vampire came calling. Don Simon Xavier Christian Morado de la Cadena-Ysidro is the oldest vampire living in England, and he needs Asher's help.
Someone is killing vampires, someone who can walk in the daylight.
Fun adventure at the early days of the 20th century. Fog, lamplight, the clatter of broughams and the clopping of hooves. Vampires, some genteel, some... monstrous.
Well worth the read. And onward, to the next in the series.
Someone is killing vampires, someone who can walk in the daylight.
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Someone with the strength of a vampire. Asher must use all his wits and the extensive training that kept him alive undercover in enemy territory, to both expose the horrible killer (who begins killing humans in large numbers) and to save himself and his wife from the London vampires, when he does.Fun adventure at the early days of the 20th century. Fog, lamplight, the clatter of broughams and the clopping of hooves. Vampires, some genteel, some... monstrous.
Well worth the read. And onward, to the next in the series.
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LibraryThing member Fence
A James Asher book #1, also published as Immortal Blood
James Asher, retired spy and scholar, comes home one day to find a vampire in his house. A vampire who has his entire household asleep, and under threat. For if Asher does not hunt down whoever, or whatever, is killing the vampires of London
The vampire Ysidro believe their attacker is acting in the daylight, and so he is are forced to turn to a human for help, against all their rules and beliefs.
I can’t remember exactly why I picked this one up. I know it was recommended on some blog or another, but where that was, and in connection with what? I’m at a loss. I’ll have to start noting down where I get these recommendations from so that if I enjoy the book I can look to them for more.
And in this case I really did enjoy the book.
Asher, our hero, is a disillusioned spy1 and he left the Great Game after one too many dirty deeds. He retreated back into the life that used to be his cover, of sorts, academia. He is a linguist and his donnish ways meant that when he was spying he was never suspected. But his background in spying is exactly why the vampires want his assistance.
Once Ysidro has left Asher tells his wife everything that happened. And wasn’t that such a relief! I was so worried it was going to be another of those books where the husband goes off to “protect” the wife by keeping her in the dark about real life and so get her into further danger through ignorance2 but Lydia, his wife, has skills of her own. She, although facing great resistance from all around her, studied medicine and is now a researcher in that field.
And she has a mind of her own. And an intelligence that her husband respects and loves. I wish that weren’t something to remark upon, but it is. And I liked it :)
This book first came out in the 1980s so t=don’t worry about any sort of Twilight-esque vampire here, they even state that there is no sec between vampires, although some do like to entrap humans by playing the game. The vampires here must kill to live, they can live off animals for a short while, but it turns them stupid and liable to be caught out in the sun and killed. There is a psychic aspect to their killing, and to their hunting. They can persuade people to look away and ignore them, or to come close and do as they are bid. They are strong and fast, they are immortal, but they can be killed. They have their vulnerabilities.
I have to say that I really enjoyed this book, I think because Hambly writes characters so well, Asher could very easly have been almost a stereotype but I never found him so. And even the vampires have their nuances. Some have obviously serious questions about their life, but the will to survive is a strong one. It is that that makes a vampire live at the moment of turning. If you do not desire and fight for life you will not survive. However, the writing was a little convoluted for me, at least until I got used to the style of it. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but I think that I will be looking for other book about James Asher and the vampires of London.
James Asher, retired spy and scholar, comes home one day to find a vampire in his house. A vampire who has his entire household asleep, and under threat. For if Asher does not hunt down whoever, or whatever, is killing the vampires of London
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then Asher will die, as will his family.The vampire Ysidro believe their attacker is acting in the daylight, and so he is are forced to turn to a human for help, against all their rules and beliefs.
I can’t remember exactly why I picked this one up. I know it was recommended on some blog or another, but where that was, and in connection with what? I’m at a loss. I’ll have to start noting down where I get these recommendations from so that if I enjoy the book I can look to them for more.
And in this case I really did enjoy the book.
Asher, our hero, is a disillusioned spy1 and he left the Great Game after one too many dirty deeds. He retreated back into the life that used to be his cover, of sorts, academia. He is a linguist and his donnish ways meant that when he was spying he was never suspected. But his background in spying is exactly why the vampires want his assistance.
Once Ysidro has left Asher tells his wife everything that happened. And wasn’t that such a relief! I was so worried it was going to be another of those books where the husband goes off to “protect” the wife by keeping her in the dark about real life and so get her into further danger through ignorance2 but Lydia, his wife, has skills of her own. She, although facing great resistance from all around her, studied medicine and is now a researcher in that field.
And she has a mind of her own. And an intelligence that her husband respects and loves. I wish that weren’t something to remark upon, but it is. And I liked it :)
This book first came out in the 1980s so t=don’t worry about any sort of Twilight-esque vampire here, they even state that there is no sec between vampires, although some do like to entrap humans by playing the game. The vampires here must kill to live, they can live off animals for a short while, but it turns them stupid and liable to be caught out in the sun and killed. There is a psychic aspect to their killing, and to their hunting. They can persuade people to look away and ignore them, or to come close and do as they are bid. They are strong and fast, they are immortal, but they can be killed. They have their vulnerabilities.
I have to say that I really enjoyed this book, I think because Hambly writes characters so well, Asher could very easly have been almost a stereotype but I never found him so. And even the vampires have their nuances. Some have obviously serious questions about their life, but the will to survive is a strong one. It is that that makes a vampire live at the moment of turning. If you do not desire and fight for life you will not survive. However, the writing was a little convoluted for me, at least until I got used to the style of it. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but I think that I will be looking for other book about James Asher and the vampires of London.
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LibraryThing member macha
first book of an older series i had never read into before, although i have always liked the author's work. this would be a fairly standard genre novel except for the formative idea of combining the tropes of spy stories with the assumptions of vampire lore, making the spy the occult detective, and
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setting the story in 1908 London, all the while deconstructing all those assumptions. light reading, just what i wanted. but i was sufficiently charmed by the conceits, and entertained by the blowing up of various norms - and then i became intrigued by the main vampire too. so onward to book #2. Show Less
LibraryThing member plappen
A new killer is afoot on the streets of Sherlock Holmes-era London. The difference is that this killer is targeting London's vampires, who have existed in the city for several hundred years. Someone, or something, is opening their coffins during the day, thereby exposing them to sunlight, and
Simon Ysidro, London's oldest vampire, enlists the help of James Asher, an instructor at Oxford University, and former British spy, to investigate. Asher is given little choice in the matter. Any non-cooperation or attempts at double-crossing on Asher's part will lead to his young wife, Lydia, a medical doctor, becoming the newest member of London's vampire population.
Taking great pains to keep Lydia as safe as possible, Asher and Ysidro visit the now-empty coffins, looking for clues. Ysidro is less than cooperative, not wanting to reveal too much as possible about life as a vampire. Lydia undertakes her own investigation, looking for anomalies in house ownership records, or people who have lived much longer than normal, while spending her nights reading medical journals.
Asher learns that turning someone into a vampire is not as easy as just drinking their blood. More than that is involved, and it does not work all the time. Asher and Ysidro travel to Paris, where they meet Brother Anthony, a very old and frail-looking vampire who lives underground in the Catacombs. Asher also narrowly escapes getting his blood drained by several French vampires.
Returning to London, Asher learns that Lydia, increasingly concerned about his lack of communication, has taken matters into her own hands. Does Asher find her in time? Is the culprit found and stopped? Does this have anything to do with a sudden rash of "unexplained" deaths in London, whose victims have had their blood drained?
This is a really good novel, but not a very fast moving novel. It will take some effort on the part of the reader, but that effort will be rewarded, because Hambly shows that she knows how to tell a story. It is worth checking out.
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certain death.Simon Ysidro, London's oldest vampire, enlists the help of James Asher, an instructor at Oxford University, and former British spy, to investigate. Asher is given little choice in the matter. Any non-cooperation or attempts at double-crossing on Asher's part will lead to his young wife, Lydia, a medical doctor, becoming the newest member of London's vampire population.
Taking great pains to keep Lydia as safe as possible, Asher and Ysidro visit the now-empty coffins, looking for clues. Ysidro is less than cooperative, not wanting to reveal too much as possible about life as a vampire. Lydia undertakes her own investigation, looking for anomalies in house ownership records, or people who have lived much longer than normal, while spending her nights reading medical journals.
Asher learns that turning someone into a vampire is not as easy as just drinking their blood. More than that is involved, and it does not work all the time. Asher and Ysidro travel to Paris, where they meet Brother Anthony, a very old and frail-looking vampire who lives underground in the Catacombs. Asher also narrowly escapes getting his blood drained by several French vampires.
Returning to London, Asher learns that Lydia, increasingly concerned about his lack of communication, has taken matters into her own hands. Does Asher find her in time? Is the culprit found and stopped? Does this have anything to do with a sudden rash of "unexplained" deaths in London, whose victims have had their blood drained?
This is a really good novel, but not a very fast moving novel. It will take some effort on the part of the reader, but that effort will be rewarded, because Hambly shows that she knows how to tell a story. It is worth checking out.
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LibraryThing member bcquinnsmom
Set in London just past the turn of the 20th century, James Asher, who works (or rather worked) as an agent for Britain's intelligence service, comes home one day to his home in London to find his wife and two of their servants out cold. While he's taking in the scene, he is accosted by a man
This book was pretty good. Well written (although sometimes rather wordy), it does capture the times in which it is placed. The author never allows anything to distract from the mystery and keeps it on track at all times. A good addition to anyone's vampire library.
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claiming to be a vampire. Threatened with the death of his wife by this person, James has no choice but to help him. The vampire wants him to hunt down someone who has been opening the coffins of other vampires throughout the city and burning them in the sunlight. Since the vampire cannot walk by day, he needs James to find the guilty party. James reluctantly agrees, to save his wife Lydia. This book was pretty good. Well written (although sometimes rather wordy), it does capture the times in which it is placed. The author never allows anything to distract from the mystery and keeps it on track at all times. A good addition to anyone's vampire library.
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LibraryThing member KevinRubin
Not a new book, but I finally got around to reading “Those Who Hunt the Night” by Barbara Hambly. I quite enjoyed it, overall.
It takes place in mostly London during the Edwardian era, with the main character James Asher as a former spy and now Oxford don.
He’s coerced by one of London’s
Asher’s young wife, Lydia, is a medical doctor and takes an interest in the medical qualities of the vampires, though Asher works to keep them separate from her, to reduce her risk.
The two soon move to temporary, safely separate, quarters in London so they can work on different aspects of the manhunt. Hambly gives the addresses and I found one of them on a map, remembering my own wanderings around the area when I had weekends free on an extended business trip to England. So that brought back some memories.
I was impressed by Hambly’s description of Lydia’s work sorting through public records, especially considering the character was doing it in 1908, while I imagined how I’d go about writing SQL queries on a computer in the now modern era.
Overall I enjoyed the story. I was a little disappointed with two aspects of the ending. I felt like Asher and Ysidro had bonded throughout the book, so I expected something more in terms of possible friendship between them once it was finished.
And I was disappointed at the culprit. I was hoping, I think, for something more along the lines of a Lovecraftian eldritch terror, so when the killer was revealed it was a little letdown. I had a bit of trouble suspending disbelief at who it was and how they went about it.
Now I’ll have to track down some copies of the sequels involving Asher and Lydia…
It takes place in mostly London during the Edwardian era, with the main character James Asher as a former spy and now Oxford don.
He’s coerced by one of London’s
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oldest and most powerful vampires, Simon Ysidro, into hunting down who’s killing other vampires during daylight hours. He quickly goes from believing vampires are merely myths to meeting several.Asher’s young wife, Lydia, is a medical doctor and takes an interest in the medical qualities of the vampires, though Asher works to keep them separate from her, to reduce her risk.
The two soon move to temporary, safely separate, quarters in London so they can work on different aspects of the manhunt. Hambly gives the addresses and I found one of them on a map, remembering my own wanderings around the area when I had weekends free on an extended business trip to England. So that brought back some memories.
I was impressed by Hambly’s description of Lydia’s work sorting through public records, especially considering the character was doing it in 1908, while I imagined how I’d go about writing SQL queries on a computer in the now modern era.
Overall I enjoyed the story. I was a little disappointed with two aspects of the ending. I felt like Asher and Ysidro had bonded throughout the book, so I expected something more in terms of possible friendship between them once it was finished.
And I was disappointed at the culprit. I was hoping, I think, for something more along the lines of a Lovecraftian eldritch terror, so when the killer was revealed it was a little letdown. I had a bit of trouble suspending disbelief at who it was and how they went about it.
Now I’ll have to track down some copies of the sequels involving Asher and Lydia…
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Subjects
Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — 1989)
Best Fiction for Young Adults (Selection — 1988)
Language
Original publication date
1990-06-13
Physical description
242 p.; 8.5 inches